Mornington Shire Deputy Mayor Sarah Isaacs has thrown her hat into the ring to contest the next state election as an independent for the seat of Traeger.
Ms Isaacs made the announcement at the Local Government Association of Queensland Indigenous Leaders Forum in Gladstone on Wednesday.
Speaking to the North West Star on Thursday Ms Isaacs said she was running for election because she could bring something new to the table.
“I’m the deputy mayor for Mornington (Shire) and I’ve seen how our system works at a local level,” Ms Isaacs said.
“I can bring experience about how our service delivery system works and I can help build the relationship between state and local government.
“You need someone strong who can stand up and tell the issues like they are.”
Ms Isaacs said the issues in her remote Indigenous community of Mornington Island were not solely indigenous.
You need someone strong who can stand up and tell the issues like they are
- Sarah Isaacs
“If we had a regional backing maybe we’d get some movement for all of us,” she said.
Ms Isaacs acknowledged that if elected she would have to move to Mount Isa.
“I’ve discussed this with my family,” she said. “Mount Isa is the central hub of our region.”
Ms Isaacs has plenty experience of travel and said she grew up “backwards and forwards”.
“My mother is from Mornington Island and my father is a Brisbane boy,” she said.
“Mount Isa was the town in the middle we always had to go through.” Ms Isaacs was elected to the Mornington Shire council in 2016 topping the councillor poll with 14.89% of the vote and was subsequently elected by councillors to be deputy to Mayor Bradley Wilson.
Endorsing her nomination on Facebook, Mayor Wilson said they needed as much support for her from all over the region, especially the Gulf communities.
“So friends and families please pass the word around to all to support our very own Indigenous female to rise to that level,” Cr Wilson said.
“We need our voices heard and she will fight for the grassroots people.”
Also declared for the new seat which combines much of the old seats of Mount Isa and Dalrymple are KAP member for Mount Isa Robbie Katter, Labor’s Danielle Slade and the LNP candidate Ronald Bird.